Slum Dwellers Perception Towards Ujjwala Yojana, a Government-Lead LPG Intervention Programme in India: An Empirical Investigation

Numerous studies are available in the academic literature that investigates the customer perception under different contexts. In the present research the researcher tries to investigate the customer perception towards the Indian Government-sponsored social programme from the slum dwellers’ prospective. The author believes that the customer perception towards the government-lead liquefied petroleum gas intervention programme is influenced by multiple functional factors. The functional factors include both process or delivery variables and the outcome factors. In order to test the hypothesis, machine learning binary classifiers like logit, support vector machine, linear discriminant analysis, quadratic discriminant analysis and artificial neural network models are adopted. The binary classifier model efficiencies are analysed with multiple performance measurement parameters like accuracy rate, error rate, F-score, precision, kappa coefficient, Matthews correlation coefficient and area under receiver operating characteristic. While evaluating between the degree of accuracy between actual and predicted cases, the model efficiency results indicate a better predictive power of the classifier models. In relative performance of classifier models, artificial neural network outperformed the other models adopted in the empirical research.

Being Black in 21st-Century America: Struggle, Challenges and Possibilities

This study attempts to define struggle and challenges black population of USA has been facing since ages and still facing in this 21st century when whole world is heading towards globalisation and post-modernism. As it has been reflected in the history of the nation, racial segregation has always been a part of national society and culture. This racial segregation has led the black population of USA to raise their voice for civil rights as well as equal opportunities in every field. These struggles and challenges before blacks to lead a dignified life have opened the future possibilities where both black and white youth’s understanding of race relations is required. The white youth of America is equally responsible for providing equal space to blacks in American society, culture and politics. Hence, the present study attempts to look at the history of race relations and relevance of race and race relations in the 21st-century USA, with special reference to the current issue of George Floyd in order to explain how status of blacks in the 21st-century USA is affected by this history and attitude of the State.

Agencies and Mechanisms of Social Inclusion and Exclusion Among People Living with HIV/AIDS in Mizoram

The association of human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) with stigma and discrimination remain a challenge in combating HIV/AIDS. It pushes people to remain hidden with the potential to manifest in the future. This study aims to examine the agencies and mechanisms of social inclusion and exclusion among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in the state of Mizoram. The study covers two districts of Mizoram, Lunglei and Saiha districts, selected purposively. Respondents were identified through different gateways like non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and hospital. A total of sixty respondents were interviewed, thirty respondents from each district selected proportionately. The study reveals that the same agencies which cater to the inclusion of PLWHA can also exclude them through different mechanisms. Agencies at primary and secondary level adopted a mixture of both inclusionary and exclusionary measures. At tertiary level NGOs, hospitals staff are seen to be more inclusionary than social institutions such as the church and youth associations. The study highlights the need for greater awareness on HIV/AIDS at the individual and community level.

Reservation of Dalit in theCivil Service of Nepal: Efficacious or Not?

The concept of reservation in state mechanism attaches itself to the idea of breaking or at least stagnating the cycle of perpetuation of hierarchical status in those mechanisms. Reservation of Dalit in such mechanism is guaranteed via both statutory and constitutional requirement in context of Nepal. So much so, that ‘Right of Dalit’ recognised as a fundamental right of Dalit in the constitution encapsulates this requirement exclusively. The study investigates whether the guaranteeing of legal requirement has translated into an efficacious material realisation. It takes representation of Dalit within the civil service as a reference point for this investigation and analyses whether hierarchical status borne out of true phenomenology of caste have been truly shredded by policies of perceived empowerment in civil service symbolic to breaking of hierarchies in state machinery.

Sharing Economies: The Impact of Online Platforms in Social Exclusion and Economic Marginalisation in South Africa

The concept of sharing economies is a developing phenomenon that is highly prevalent in international economies and currently exists in South Africa as well. However, the concept of sharing economy is not totally accepted and practiced to its optimal potential. This study focuses on the population of South Africa that is considered to be socially excluded and economically marginalised. Theoretical data indicate that these individuals form part of the lower income citizens and are part of the bottom of the pyramid. This study provides evidence that the concept of sharing economy can be used via online platforms to optimise economic growth opportunities so as to minimise the current gap of social exclusion and economic marginalisation. Current literature specified that the barriers to economic growth with sharing economies in South Africa are due to a lack of internet access, unemployment, education, health and governance. South Africa is a developing nation and with the aid of enhanced governance with regard to sharing economies, training and development and cultural diversity acceptance, sharing economies is a potential catalyst to attaining equality and bridging the gap of social exclusion and economic marginalisation.

Devbans, Caste, Gender and the State:Political Ecology of a Sacred Grove of Himachal Pradesh

Devbans are the parts of forest territory that have been traditionally conserved in reverence to the local deities in various parts of Himachal Pradesh. Today, they stand at the intersection of tradition and modernity. This paper endeavours to study the political ecology of a Devban in the contemporary times by looking at the power dynamics between various stakeholders with respect to their relative decision making power in the realm of managing the Devban of Parashar Rishi Devta. It further looks at howcertain political and administrative factors can contribute towards the growth or even decline of any Devban. The study argues that in the contemporary times when the capitalist doctrines have infiltrated every sphere of the social institutions including the religion, Devbans have a greater probability of survival when both the state and the community have shared conservatory idealsand powers to preserve them.

Contemporary Socio-Economic Challenges and Legal Intervention to Nomadic Tribal Community: A Case Study of Nomadic Prisoners in Bihar

Nomadic, de-notified and semi-nomadic tribes are considered to be the earliest inhabitants of any nation. Their sacrifices and sufferings in the past and present have resulted in a developing nation that we are today. Despite that, today, the nomadic tribal communities are the worst sufferers because of the lack of education, livelihood, occupation, fundamental rights, legal rights,etc.; they are considered to be the least developed. Failure in implementing the framework and crooked legislations had harvested their souls for our own selfish needs, and incarcerated the nomadic tribal community without providing them access to free legal aid service endeavouring for due justice. The present study broadly scrutinises these issues, problems and their ill effects because of which these communities are facing a lot of challenges and are unable to secure justice.

How Are ‘Included’ Excluded and Vice-Versa: Negotiated Participation of Women in School Governance in Nepal

Women representation in public institutions has been a key policy shift in Nepal in the recent decade. Despite such policy intervention as affirmative action measures to encourage women participation in public institutions and likewise increased presence of women in politics and public institutions, women’s participation at local level school decision-making processes remains limited. Through a lens of representation and theory of participation and an examination of women’s experiences, this study critically examines the dynamics of inclusion and exclusion in the School Management Committee. Drawing on original ethnographic research in a secondary school in rural Kaski, Gandaki Province, Nepal, this study draws that predominant female gender images were reproduced in the initial stage of women participation which made them feel ‘othered’ and ‘excluded’; however, gradually, with the passage of time and learning, such images receded and they felt more ‘included’ and were thereby likely to demonstrate more substantive participation.

The Subaltern Critique of Dominant Historiography and a Case for Retrieving a Historiography of Dalit Literary Traditions in India

In order to retrieve literary history in India, teleology operates on three levels: ancient, medieval and modern. As per the longue duree approach to the study of history, history is not an event or an object, but like the concept of time, is a configuration and a process. The history of the longue duree gives priority to long-term monumental historic patterns, moments and shifts in society, that is, the slow-paced structural processes which tend to have strong historical consequences. Similarly, languages and literatures, too, marked by historical catastrophes, undergo a process of sedimentation. For this reason, instead of a single literary history of South Asia, Sheldon Pollock proposes the concept of ‘literary cultures’ which allows room for ‘historical individuation’ of each culture rather than homogenising them merely for the sake of historical analysis. The basic questions that I have tried to look into through this study include: Why is it problematic to retrieve literary history in India? Why is it essential to have an alternative literary historiography of Dalit literature? How does Dalit subalternity differ from colonial subalternity? How the Dalit voice is disintegrated from within because of the prevalence of graded inequality? What constitutes the politics of history writing and canon formation in the third world countries like India where retrieving subaltern literary trends remain a problematic discourse?

The Persistence of Caste: Part I—The Impossible Simultaneity of Religion and Social Revolution in Ambedkar’s Last Essay: Buddha or Karl Marx

This study will explore the problem of the persistence of caste in South Asia, particularly in India but not excluding the global diaspora of peoples of South Asian descent. Within Ambedkar’s massive, far-reaching corpus of writings we will explore his last great work Buddha or Karl Marx, written shortly before his death in 1956 but published posthumously. By examining this inexplicable constancy of caste, we will argue why it is a moral imperative to continue the legacy of Ambedkar by offering new philosophical reasons for its ultimate destruction.